RPM
CAS1006
Owlriel
Neziul
MegaraFoxfire
Altered Tundra
Rhona W
Kuro
ForsytheYou might think that pointing a gun and spraying bullets everywhere was easy. You would be wrong.
Truthfully, every gun in the world was easy to a point, in that it was a machine that did what it did until it was empty or broken. Beyond that, they were hopeless if you were hopeless. The idea of that tiny explosion in a barrel, shooting forth a piece of metal out the tube and into somebody's face... You have to control that, no matter HOW easy that sounds. A machine gun will hit nothing if you don't manage it, control it. Because you're beyond mere explosions, by that point. You've been handed an eruption machine and told to go kill a dozen men. If you don't figure out the rhythm by which the bullets flow and hold it REALLY steady, your machine gun'll go all over the place and be of no use, whatsoever, except maybe as a distraction until you're dead.
Today was the first time Isaac actually saw who he was killing, how they folded before them, how they spasmed and died or cried out as they bled out. Before then, it was just somebody falling over in the trench and then seeing the bodies lying around like he'd always just been there. This was the first they'd seen their faces, seen the look of 'Oh Shit!' as the bullets came flying in. Is this what they looked like on the charge? Could they see all this from that far away? Isaac had questioned that for a bit...and then he'd gotten hot under the collar when he remembered the cavalry charge, which he didn't even want to look at. Oh, they knew alright. They knew every last detail.
The last time he had this ear ache, there'd been a massive headache associated because of the mortar dropping so close. This had been a grenade that landed outside the window after it hit his helmet. The last thing Isaac remembered before telling everyone to duck was hearing some Imperial out there going "Oh, come on!" because of how he'd missed. He and Britta were on the floor, separated by a few feet. They were largely unhurt, just concussed a bit. Isaac managed "Britta?", and Britta confirmed "Ow.", which neatly described the situation. The wolf trainer then put his finger to his lips and slid towards the wall, indicating that she do same, in case somebody came to attack when they'd been disoriented. He'd actually heard what looked like an argument about that, possibly from the guy who'd thrown the grenade, but it was difficult to hear because of the car engine ticking away When he'd definitely heard a "Stop, don't!", Isaac came out of hiding and caught the man charging right out in the open and hit him with an eruption of gunfire.
A machine gun likes to spray wildly, but a firm hand will keep it centered. Isaac remembered when he slipped during the charge and while he was nearly hit, and coldly - soberly - thought 'There but the grace of god goes me.', as he fell. Britta tried to catch his friend, but he ran off into a building. It was about this time, as they were pulling back under cover, that they noticed Gwyn and Ines were gone from this room. Well...he had told them to secure the area around them, and there'd been definite sounds of fighting. It was pretty loud, in fact. Pretty sure a grenade went off, unless that was just the shock and memory from the last one.
"You think they're okay in there?"
Gunshots, screaming, sounds of people dying...
"I think they'll try to be. I don't know anything about either of 'em, of course. We'll just have to wait and see."
Alot of noise there, hard for Britta to hear him.
"What?"
"I said, they'll be fine!"
That would eventually die down, as would the outside. It was quiet out on the street now, except for the armored car. Didn't sound like anybody else was out there. It was almost tempting, that car, tempting to climb aboard and try to force it open. But no one would be stupid enough to do that, not without confirming things first. But then, the car was out of there, pulling out. Question is...was it a trick or was it a legitimate bug-out? That machine gun had range, and it was steady, being hooked into that car like that. The weight of the vehicle kept it from really bouncing around, so you could just fire accurately over a distance. Isaac waited...waited...and then Ines appeared! Isaac started to say "Welcome back.", but they all heard someone call out to them, saying it was safe.
"Alright, we're going back. Gwyn, if you can hear me, we're rejoining the squad!"
After having a look around, Isaac hopped right out the window, giving the others a gesture to follow as they crossed the street and into the waiting company of Squad One, where things were...yeah. Isaac walked in with the rest and stared for a moment, sort of at a loss. Jean looked like hell, Freya looked like someone killed her puppy, and they had a few wounded here, mainly Michael, Luke, and Marathon. Lucia seemed like she'd been worried over Michael, which was understandable. Isaac liked the short guy. You had to have serious strength if you could make it in the army while being undertall. He didn't wanna see him shot up, not at all. At least he was alive. Isaac stepped towards Jean now and reported.
"No casualties I can report. ...plenty of Imperial casualties, of course. That car, though..."
He shook his head.
"Untouchable. We'd need explosives, or mortars, or something."
Isaac was trying not to notice that Jean had obviously had another one of his moments where the war took out a nice big knife and slashed it across his sanity again. It wasn't the car or the wounded that did this. Jean obviously had something a bit more personal happen to him. Dammit, he'd only been gone a little while. The Lance-Corporal then looked him in the eyes and asked...
"What happened here? Tell me."
Meanwhile, Britta had overheard Ines and Freya talking. The thing that stood out about the Oceanic soldier when she walked in was that she'd had that look on her face, but she wasn't even hurt. That's what drew Ines over. That's what drew Britta to listen, as well. When Freya drew attenntion to Jean, though...Britta noticed Franz didn't have anyone while Jean was to be occupied with Isaac Yeah, even though he was a corporal and he'd been with the company since the trenches, it DID seem like Franz was overlooked, sometimes. That was wrong. Britta said to the other two "I'm a friend. I'll go." and headed on over to him to talk. Hoisting her gear on her back, she approached him with a calm tone.
"Franz, are you alright?"
She kind of hated that she didn't talk enough with some of the people around here. Work as a Gunner was sort of constant. If you're not laying down suppression fire, you're covering everyone's backs. And rest time? More chances than not, you're the one making sure they can rest, since you're the one keeping a lookout for the enemy. Becoming a Gunner is hard work, and being one in the field no less-so. She knew Franz was having a hard time of it. Britta herself felt like she was so busy making sure the people around her don't die that she didn't have the time to think about the things they were doing.
Truthfully, every gun in the world was easy to a point, in that it was a machine that did what it did until it was empty or broken. Beyond that, they were hopeless if you were hopeless. The idea of that tiny explosion in a barrel, shooting forth a piece of metal out the tube and into somebody's face... You have to control that, no matter HOW easy that sounds. A machine gun will hit nothing if you don't manage it, control it. Because you're beyond mere explosions, by that point. You've been handed an eruption machine and told to go kill a dozen men. If you don't figure out the rhythm by which the bullets flow and hold it REALLY steady, your machine gun'll go all over the place and be of no use, whatsoever, except maybe as a distraction until you're dead.
Today was the first time Isaac actually saw who he was killing, how they folded before them, how they spasmed and died or cried out as they bled out. Before then, it was just somebody falling over in the trench and then seeing the bodies lying around like he'd always just been there. This was the first they'd seen their faces, seen the look of 'Oh Shit!' as the bullets came flying in. Is this what they looked like on the charge? Could they see all this from that far away? Isaac had questioned that for a bit...and then he'd gotten hot under the collar when he remembered the cavalry charge, which he didn't even want to look at. Oh, they knew alright. They knew every last detail.
The last time he had this ear ache, there'd been a massive headache associated because of the mortar dropping so close. This had been a grenade that landed outside the window after it hit his helmet. The last thing Isaac remembered before telling everyone to duck was hearing some Imperial out there going "Oh, come on!" because of how he'd missed. He and Britta were on the floor, separated by a few feet. They were largely unhurt, just concussed a bit. Isaac managed "Britta?", and Britta confirmed "Ow.", which neatly described the situation. The wolf trainer then put his finger to his lips and slid towards the wall, indicating that she do same, in case somebody came to attack when they'd been disoriented. He'd actually heard what looked like an argument about that, possibly from the guy who'd thrown the grenade, but it was difficult to hear because of the car engine ticking away When he'd definitely heard a "Stop, don't!", Isaac came out of hiding and caught the man charging right out in the open and hit him with an eruption of gunfire.
A machine gun likes to spray wildly, but a firm hand will keep it centered. Isaac remembered when he slipped during the charge and while he was nearly hit, and coldly - soberly - thought 'There but the grace of god goes me.', as he fell. Britta tried to catch his friend, but he ran off into a building. It was about this time, as they were pulling back under cover, that they noticed Gwyn and Ines were gone from this room. Well...he had told them to secure the area around them, and there'd been definite sounds of fighting. It was pretty loud, in fact. Pretty sure a grenade went off, unless that was just the shock and memory from the last one.
"You think they're okay in there?"
Gunshots, screaming, sounds of people dying...
"I think they'll try to be. I don't know anything about either of 'em, of course. We'll just have to wait and see."
Alot of noise there, hard for Britta to hear him.
"What?"
"I said, they'll be fine!"
That would eventually die down, as would the outside. It was quiet out on the street now, except for the armored car. Didn't sound like anybody else was out there. It was almost tempting, that car, tempting to climb aboard and try to force it open. But no one would be stupid enough to do that, not without confirming things first. But then, the car was out of there, pulling out. Question is...was it a trick or was it a legitimate bug-out? That machine gun had range, and it was steady, being hooked into that car like that. The weight of the vehicle kept it from really bouncing around, so you could just fire accurately over a distance. Isaac waited...waited...and then Ines appeared! Isaac started to say "Welcome back.", but they all heard someone call out to them, saying it was safe.
"Alright, we're going back. Gwyn, if you can hear me, we're rejoining the squad!"
After having a look around, Isaac hopped right out the window, giving the others a gesture to follow as they crossed the street and into the waiting company of Squad One, where things were...yeah. Isaac walked in with the rest and stared for a moment, sort of at a loss. Jean looked like hell, Freya looked like someone killed her puppy, and they had a few wounded here, mainly Michael, Luke, and Marathon. Lucia seemed like she'd been worried over Michael, which was understandable. Isaac liked the short guy. You had to have serious strength if you could make it in the army while being undertall. He didn't wanna see him shot up, not at all. At least he was alive. Isaac stepped towards Jean now and reported.
"No casualties I can report. ...plenty of Imperial casualties, of course. That car, though..."
He shook his head.
"Untouchable. We'd need explosives, or mortars, or something."
Isaac was trying not to notice that Jean had obviously had another one of his moments where the war took out a nice big knife and slashed it across his sanity again. It wasn't the car or the wounded that did this. Jean obviously had something a bit more personal happen to him. Dammit, he'd only been gone a little while. The Lance-Corporal then looked him in the eyes and asked...
"What happened here? Tell me."
Meanwhile, Britta had overheard Ines and Freya talking. The thing that stood out about the Oceanic soldier when she walked in was that she'd had that look on her face, but she wasn't even hurt. That's what drew Ines over. That's what drew Britta to listen, as well. When Freya drew attenntion to Jean, though...Britta noticed Franz didn't have anyone while Jean was to be occupied with Isaac Yeah, even though he was a corporal and he'd been with the company since the trenches, it DID seem like Franz was overlooked, sometimes. That was wrong. Britta said to the other two "I'm a friend. I'll go." and headed on over to him to talk. Hoisting her gear on her back, she approached him with a calm tone.
"Franz, are you alright?"
She kind of hated that she didn't talk enough with some of the people around here. Work as a Gunner was sort of constant. If you're not laying down suppression fire, you're covering everyone's backs. And rest time? More chances than not, you're the one making sure they can rest, since you're the one keeping a lookout for the enemy. Becoming a Gunner is hard work, and being one in the field no less-so. She knew Franz was having a hard time of it. Britta herself felt like she was so busy making sure the people around her don't die that she didn't have the time to think about the things they were doing.
